SC on Tuesday approved the schemes prepared by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the New Delhi Municipal Council for regulating issuance of tehbazari licences, reports Satya Prakash.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday approved the schemes prepared by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the New Delhi Municipal Council for regulating issuance of tehbazari licences to three lakh hawkers, squatters and vendors in the capital with certain modifications.

A Bench headed by Justice BP Singh directed the NDMC to finalise the list of hawking/non-hawking and squatting/non-squatting zones within four weeks. The MCD has already completed the exercise.

The court gave liberty to the MCD to either conduct a survey or adopt any other method for actual allotment of tehbazari sites. However, it said while deciding the hawking/non-hawking and squatting/non-squatting zones the civic agencies will have to take into consideration whether the area is commercial or residential, width of the road and space left for pedestrians.

The schemes have been prepared in the light of the National Policy on Urban Street Vendors, 2004, according to which the number of hawkers/squatters in a city could not exceed 2.5 per cent of the total population.

All weekly bazars have been allowed to continue on weekly holidays and festivals except those on non-squatting, non-hawking zones.

MCD counsel Sanjiv Sen said that after the implementation of the schemes, Delhi would be free from unauthorized hawkers/vendors.

The court directed MCD/NDMC to include the modifications and go ahead with the identification of actual tehbazari sites without ignoring the rights and interests of the remaining 97.5 per cent residents of Delhi. It also asked them to disclose the basis adopted for identification of hawking/non-hawking and squatting/non-squatting zones.

It also directed the SHOs of the areas concerned to take immediate steps for removal of hawkers, squatters from non-hawking, non-squatting areas and made each of them personally liable for any breach of the order.

Approving the schemes, the Bench made it clear that hawking or squatting shall not be permitted in non-hawking, non-squatting zones and the violators would lose their licence. Those issued tehbazari licences would get 6x4 feet open to sky space.

According to the MCD scheme, vending committees have been constituted in all the 134 wards, which would be responsible for identifying the sites declaring hawking and non-hawking zones in consultation with vendors, traders' associations, RWAs and Traffic Police. Zonal Vending Committees have also been constituted in all the 12 zones which will be responsible for approving the hawking/non-hawking zones and make allotments to eligible vendors/squatters.

According to NDMC, no squatting would be allowed in the areas covered under the Lutyens' Bungalow Zone, some areas in Rajiv Chowk and Indira Chowk, Supreme Court, Chanakyapuri and areas near Foreign Mission and Delhi Metro stations. However, built up units like koisks stalls etc constructed by the NDMC shall be allowed.

Tehbazari/vending sites will remain the property of MCD/NDMC but transfer/mutation would be allowed in case of death or insanity of the allottee subject to payment of charges approved by the MCD/NDMC from time to time.
Only goods of daily needs/services will be allowed to be sold and preparation of food and sale of hazardous, electronic and polluting items shall not be allowed. Only pre-cooked food in packed condition would be permitted. Existing PCO booths will be allowed to switch over to other trades.

The vendors whose cases are pending in courts and who are covered under the case 'Gainda Ram vs MCD/Chopra Committee' (previously rejected on minor grounds), will get preference. Second preference would be given to special groups like handicapped and widows for whom 15 per cent quota has been fixed.